1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates primarily to skateboards and roller skates and more particularly, to an improved skate wheel truck and wheels incorporating novel wheel designs for use therewith.
2. Background Information
Skateboards are well known devices having numerous references in the art. It is also well known that they can be extremely dangerous to someone unskilled in their use. Early attempts to alleviate this problem resulted in such solutions are the eight-wheel skateboard having four wheels per truck as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,062,557 and an improvement thereto found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,337,961 wherein an endless belt is positioned around paired wheels with each truck having two pair. An alternative, U.S. Pat. No. 4,515,379, addressed a similar but slightly different problem for unskilled skaters. When passing over uneven terrain or a curb, having an upward projection which may come in contact with the truck axle housing, causing an abrupt halt to the skateboards forward progress with potential danger to the use. The '379 patent utilizes a small roller positioned axially between the wheel pairs and has a radius smaller than the truck wheels so that the roller would normally clear objects when a person is skating on a flat, level terrain, but the roller would engage an upward extending object and roll over rather than impacting upon the object.
However, as a skateboard rider becomes more skilled and begins to attempt acrobatic maneuvers and narrow radium turns as well as increasing travel speeds, the above-described devices tend to inhibit such use by increasing the turning radius when attempting acrobatics and turns and limiting the speed achievable by the rider.
For the more skilled rider, attention has been toward improving the design of the wheel, such as that found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,070,065 and 4,128,254 which are directed to increasing traction and resistance to sideways slip of the wheel during turn and to reduce loss of speed during sharp turns due to greatly increased rolling friction as a result of lip deformation of the wheel.
Thus, there is a need for skateboards having wheel truck configurations and wheel designs that provide a relatively stable and safe platform for the beginning use and, at the same time, can be reconfigured as the user gains experience with use of the board in order to perform acrobatics and turns such as can be found in exhibitions and contests of skateboarding.